Category: Other Stuff

Some dates are emblematic milestones on the road of life. Sure they seem silly and pointless when it’s not yours but we celebrate with vigor anyway if for no other reason than to guilt our friends into celebrating ours when the time comes. When your good friend is about to turn into an old man – a process well underway years ago – you have to make them something special. No simple note card will do it. A gift card? Pfft! Let’s create a beer and design a truly appropriate label for it!

So that’s what happened. Beer is either a hoppy American amber or a light Red IPA, somewhere in between really. A clean, easy drinking red-ish beer with a smooth bitterness. Made with mostly 2-row pale and a splash of caramel and Special B malt to balance out the Centennial, Amarillo, and Cascade hops. Fermented with the classic San Diego Super yeast from our good friends at White Labs. From grain to glass in 12 days!

The label was created primarily in Illustrator of course and the face was done with Photoshop (using the 1-bit tiff trick). Typefaces used are Berliner for title copy and some of the Clarendon family for the rest. Vinyl, reusable labels printed at GrogTags. Protip™: Don’t try to apply the labels to cold or slightly moist bottles. That was not my best moment.

It was a fun project to complete and can’t be happier with the outcome not only the beer label design but the reaction and enjoyment that people had at the party. Next time you’re thinking about a gift, try making something instead. Get out there and make stuff!

Maniacal Industries is home to dumb stuff for smart people including apparel, posters, prints, and writing. We like to make things and write about stuff. If you would like us to make things or write stuff for you just drop us a line at scoreloot@maniacalindustries.com